The Hunter
by OrchidBow
Summary: Percy's been abused by Smelly Gabe for a little over 2 years now. One day Gabe takes it too far and murders Sally Jackson. Not being able to handle the pain Percy runs away only to be found by the Hunter of Artemis. They accept him and teach him to be a tolerable man. -No pairings decided yet-
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN PERCY JACKSON AT ALL. THIS GOES FOR ALL CHAPTERS!**

**Okay because I didn't really like my One Way Trip story, I did end it. But, to hopefully make it up to you I will be writing another story. Sadly it's not a Percabeth one, but the good news is YOU guys will be deciding who Percy will fall in love with. So here are the choices:**

**Percy/Artemis**

**Percy/Zoe**

**Percy/Thalia**

**Maybe Percy/OC**

**Okay well enough of that. On to my new story...**

**The Hunter**

**Percy POV -7 Years old-**

I woke up in pain. I rolled over as I let out a groan, I lifted up my shirt for it made a crackle sound from the dried blood on it. Something was jabbing at my skin from the inside, my best guess was a rib. I inspected my body as I held back any screams of pain. 3 bruises on my stomach, 1 hopefully only broken rib, 2 broken fingers, 3 stabs on my side and a big purple welt on my thigh. So pretty good shape.

I heard the front door open and close and Smelly Gabe must of left the house. I slowly dragged myself up off the floor to the bathroom where I could take a nice warm shower. Smelly Gabe only allows me 7 minute showers or he finds out and beats me again.

The water dripped off my skin, I looked down to see the water is not clear but a bright red from the blood on my body. I quickly washed my hair and body being mindful of all the bruises and cuts on my body. The towel felt nice, fuzzy, and warm as I dried myself off.

I walked back into my bedroom to check the time, 8:42 p.m. Wheres mommy? She should be home by now. Curiously I walked into the kitchen to see a massive puddle of blood on the floor. In the center of it laid an un-moving body, mommy. My knees gave out as I fell to the floor and cried into my moms bloody shirt. "No mommy, no, no, no. Please! You can't be gone!"

I cried until the door opened again. Smelly Gabe was back, in his hand I saw he was holding a 12 pack of beer. "What're you doing kid?" He slurred his words, he must be drunk.

I don't know what came over me but I ran at him as fast as the pain would let me and threw a wild punch at his face. Too say he was shocked would be understating it. He instantly dropped the beer and pushed me against the wall behind me. "Wanna do that again, punk?" He punched me in the stomach, right on one of the bruises. I held the scream back because he used to always tell me if I made a sound 5 extra punches.

He kept hitting me until I slipped out of consciousness.

-o-

My vision returned as memories came flooding in. I looked at the clock on the stove, 10:27 p.m. So I've be unconscious for at least an hour.

I could hear Smelly Gabe's snoring from the room, my mom was still laying on the floor, dead.

I picked up the roll of paper towels and soaked up all the blood, then I cleaned off her body with a washcloth. I looked to see a knife sticking out of her stomach. Crying I yanked it out and placed it beside me.

I couldn't do much else so I left her there but folded her arms over her stomach. I ran to my room and grabbed my school back-pack. Threw everything out of it and began stuffing clothes in it. I walked over to my drawer and pulled out a water bottle filled with the golden liquid my mommy always told me I should use for emergencies. Next to it was a bag filled with 5 small squares of what looked like birthday cake. I don't remember what they're called but it doesn't matter right now. I grabbed the picture frame off my dresser of me and my mom, placed it carefully in the bag and ran to Smelly Gabe's room.

I crawled to his night stand plucked his wallet off of it and stuffed all the money in the front pocket of my school bag.

Finally I ran to the kitchen, holding in the tears I grabbed a kitchen knife on the counter. I made sure it wasn't the one who killed my mommy.

I then made it to the door where I didn't take a second glance and ran for anywhere but here.

-o-

I didn't stop till I got to a payphone, stood on my tippy toes and placed a quarter in the coin slot. I quickly pressed 911 and waited.

"Hello, this is 911 how may I help you?"

"Oh um, yes hi. I would like to r-r-report a murder." That's the word right? I asked myself.

"Okay, and could you tell me where you saw it happen and describe what the person looked like?"

"It was at my home." I quickly told her my apartment address. "And the man was old and fat, he smelled bad. His name is Gabe and he lives there too. He killed my mommy." Tears started to drip down my face. I could hear the pity in her voice.

"Okay, thank you so much, and be strong. Police will be there shortly." I hung up and began to run again.

I stopped at a gas station to buy some food,water and hopefully some booboo pain away. That's what my mommy used to call these blue candies she gave me to make me feel better, they didn't taste so good though. I grabbed lots of chips and some apples, then I grabbed 3 bottles of water.

I placed them on the counter that reached my height. The man gave me a confused look but ignored me and rung the items up.

"13.34 Sonny." I handed him $15 and told him to keep the change. I headed straight for the woods.

-o-

Once I settled down I began to drink my bottle of water and eat 2 apples. The pain in my stomach was coming back once the adrenaline died down. I layed on my back and placed the pillow behind my head and drifted into the realm of dreams.

-o-

I woke up to the sound of feet moving very quickly. I quickly glanced around and saw glimpses of silver.

In seconds I was surrounded by maybe 15 girls all wearing bright silver, all with these bows pointing at me.

I hurriedly put my hands up, and I began to hear whispering.

One of the younger girls came forward, she had auburn hair with silver eyes and looked maybe 12.

"Who are you boy?"

It took me a while to find my words to speak. "Uhm Percy Jackson miss."

She looked me over but when I stood up I immediately collapsed and all I remember was the girl walking forward. Towards me.


	2. Chapter 2

**Oh my gods. I can't even express how thankful I am for your guy's support on this story and just for answering the pairing question. Because I am so happy I've decided to write you another chapter very soon.**

**If you're wondering, here is where we are currently at with the pairing decesions.**

**Percy/Thalia: 6**

**Percy/Artemis: 3**

**Percy/Zoe: 1**

**So, so far Perlia is winning. COME ON ALL YOU OTHER SHIPPERS, VOTE! The voting will last for another 2 chapters and after that what's final is final.**

**ON TO THE STORY ALL OF MY LOVELY'S.**

**Artemis POV:**

As soon as the boy fell, I heard many gasps among my sisters. (Her hunters, duh.) I swore I saw a tear in my new recruit Thalia's eye. She's only 8 and our youngest hunter. She joined after her father had ignored her for all her life and her step-dad attempted to rape the poor girl.

I walked forward and kneeled down as I stopped in front of him. I gasped. From what I could see there were many black and purple bruises covering the young boy's body. His fingers seem to to be bending in abnormal directions along with a area of skin sticking out near his stomach. He is also very small and thin, most likely from starvation.

I flipped him over on his back to see what was there and I cried for the first time for a boy. On his back had a single name cut into it, but also a word along with it, one on top of another._ Gabe, worthless_.

I heard my lieutenant walking over to me, so I handed her my bow and picked the young boy up in my arms to carry him to my tent.

As soon as I arrived I very gently placed him on my hide covered bed. One of my tear drops fell on his shirt. "Zoe please take care of him while I go make a call." "Yes milady"

I left them tent and ran over to the nearest river which fortunately for me was quite close.

Close by there was a waterfall with water smashing again the rocks creating a fine mist that a rainbow shimmered within. I dug in my pockets for a golden drachma that I severely hoped I had.

Sure enough I found a single drachma and threw it into the mist.

"Oh Iris goddess of the Rainbow, show me Apollo, Mount Olympus"

A few seconds later the rainbow shimmered and Apollo was in front of me.

"Hey little sis! What's up?"

"Apollo, enough of that, I need you to come quickly. Someone's been severely injured."

"Sure thang sis, be there in like 10 seconds"

"And one more thing. Do NOT flirt with any of my hunters. Do not even look at them."

I saw him being uncomfortable and smirked while he gulped.

"Yeah, okay."

I swiped through the image and transported myself to my tent. Probably 10 seconds later my idiot brother showed up and I walked him inside. Zoe was still sitting on my bed next to the unconscious boy. She hurriedly got up and walked beside me.

Apollo walked over to the boy, poked a few spots. Even when the boy wasn't awake he still winced and flinched every time he touched a bruise or such. After a minute or 2 he looked up at me with sad eyes and started to speak. "Here's the news, he's got 1 broken rib, 2 cracked, 4 broken fingers, several bruises, a cracked jaw, and a sprained ankle. Also he's clearly got, the um, label on his back as well."

I nodded as my brother gathered nectar and ambrosia. I didn't stop him because guessing from the strong aura coming from the boy, he's most likely a demigod. He fed him small bites of the cake-like food, dribbled some nectar in his mouth and some on his wounds as well.

Some of the boy's wounds started to heal quickly while others took sometime to mend. Zoe stayed by my side the entire time.

I had to go check on my other hunters so I told Zoe to keep an eye on Apollo.

I left with my eyes still very much full of tears.

Zoe POV:

I've never seen my mistress cry over a boy before. But, how could you not, when there is a young boy no more than 7 with many wounds and broken bones?

You could tell the young boy has been stressed lately because you could see the worry lines evident on his forehead. He's much to young to acquire such things.

I walked forward and sat next to Lord Apollo as he applied several different things to the wounds.

"Hello Zoe." I glanced over at him. "Hello, Lord Apollo."

"Oh drop the formal act Zoe. It's just Apollo. How many times do I have to tell you this?"

He continued his work and I just watched as he healed the boy rather quickly. Not long after he finished, but you could still see many scars that would clearly be present.

Artemis surprisingly walked in with Thalia who I considered my little sister more than the rest.

Thalia POV:

Why? That's all I could ask myself as I looked at the boy my age in front of me. Who would be evil enough to do this and why? I felt uncontrollable anger rising deep within of the person who dared to hurt another human being. Yeah us hunters did make fun of boys but this one was my age! He's way to young to be hurt this way!

Why do you care you ask? I'm not sure. Maybe it's because I've been hurt before too. My step-dad and mom used to beat me lots of times. For no reason too.

I grabbed Artemis' hand next to me as I let silent tears fall on the bed before me. I tugged Milady's hand and with my other one I handed her the boys backpack that we discovered by him.

She let go of my hand and open the bag to have wide eyes. She pulled out a single picture frame and just stared at it.

Just then the boy started to cringe and shift around. He woke up and I stared at the most beautiful eye's I have ever seen. They're a very bright sea-green color that looked like the ocean I sometimes visit with my new family.

You could tell he was scared, but who wouldn't be. There's 4 people hovering over the boy staring at him.

"Uh, hello?" He had a croaky voice. Apollo handed him a bottle of water which the boy guzzled in 4 gulps.

"Kid, do you remember anything?" Apollo asked. "Not much, I remember seeing a bunch of girl in silver uniforms with bows I think, pointed at me." He replied.

Artemis stepped forward, "Where did or do you live?" "Why?" "Just tell me" She demanded.

He told her and in an instant she was gone. He looked over at me, and gave me a small smile. It was one of those were you couldn't help but smile too.

"Hi there." He said to me.

"Oh, hello." I replied shyly. He then looked over at Zoe and said hello to her also. He must've just remembered all the cuts on his body because he hurriedly started to inspect his body for bruises and broken bones.

He was shocked to find nothing but scars. He rubbed his back and his eyes went huge.

He took his shirt off and tried to look behind him. I could see the words. I started to tear up again and Zoe grabbed me and hugged me, but I could tell she was crying too.

"What? What's there? Tell me!" He screamed at us.

Apollo handed him a mirror and he stared at it with wide eyes. He then started to bawl his eyes out. I've never seen Apollo hug someone before but he did.

He passed out, not long after probably from exhaustion.

Artemis POV:

I'm going to kill that pig.

**DUH DUH DUH, CLIFFHANGER! SORRY GUYS. ALSO THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR THE REVIEWS. LOVE YOU ALL AND TILL NEXT TIME. TATA!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Alright guys, this might take me a little bit to get out which I am very sorry for, it's just that I fractured my finger in gym so it takes me a lot longer to write! I bet you're all wondering so, so far here are the tallies.**

**Perlia: 21**

**Pertemis: 15**

**Perzoe: 4**

**This will be the last chapter you're allowed to vote so get to it!**

**ON TO THE STORY!**

**Artemis POV:**

I stomped my way down the street towards the apartment building this 'Gabe' supposedly lived in. I looked around to see cop cars swarming the building and with a swipe of my hand, they were all pigeons. I continued walking until I stopped and the apartment the boy told me he lived in.

Inside was a very small apartment with 2 bedrooms, a bathroom, a kitchen, and a living room. I walked towards the living room but I passed the kitchen on my way over and I saw something hopefully not supposed to be on the ground.

As I crept closer I realized it was an unmoving body of a younger woman. I looked to see her hands were neatly placed over her chest and she actually looked somewhat peaceful. I glanced around to look for anything before I went closer and inspected her body.

I gasped as I saw many scars and fairly new cuts, on her stomach there was a rather large looking wound right under her heart and I realized it was quite deep. I put my hand on the counter next to me to pull myself up and my hand slipped, and something clattered to the floor.

The knife.

It still had some dried blood on it and when I picked it up I made it burst into flames and I stood over the body as I muttered a few Greek words. The body disappeared and I made sure she was to be taken care of.

I heard a small whimper from one of the two bedrooms. I peered inside and saw a large short man hiding in the corner on the small bedroom. I walked in as I smirked evilly.

"Hello there" I said as sweetly as possible.

"H-hello" He stuttered.

"Do you happen to be a _boy _named Gabe?" I asked. He gave a weak nod as I walked closer to him. As I stepped closer I noticed he honestly wreaked.

I grabbed the man by his collar once I was close enough and teleported us to the nearest forest. I pinned him against a tree and stuck hunting knives in his clothes to ensure he will stay there. I may have put a couple in his hands to keep him posted.** (Pun pun)**. I grabbed my bow and an arrow as I notched it I aimed for his arms. One by one I shot 5 in each arm, he was screaming too loud so I gagged him up. I then shot 3 in his manhood area.

Once I was done I walked over to the boy and took out a knife twirling it in my hand. I cut him along his chest and stabbed the knife in his abdomen.

I walked away and left the man there to die. I was done with boys who treated kids like the one my brother is currently caring for.

**Percy POV: I realize Percy may seem mature for his age but just remember the kid had been abused for much of his life so he had to have learned a few things.**

I woke up and felt like I had been run over by a truck. Next to me I saw the man and the 2 young girls from when I first woke up.

I could barely move but I managed to sit up and prop myself against the wall of the tent.

"How're you feeling kid" The man asked with worry clearly shown in his eyes.

"Like a stampede of elephants decided my body was their next path" I groaned. Sudden pain came to my head and I grabbed it as I grunted. The man handed me a glass full of gold liquid and told me to drink, which I gladly accepted. It tasted exactly like my mommy's blue chocolate chip cookies. The thought only brought tears to my eyes as I sat the glass down empty.

I looked over at the girls. "Uh hello, I'm Percy, Percy Jackson. May I ask who you two are?" I asked.

"Oh yes, I'm Zoe and this is Thalia." The older girl gestured to herself then the younger girl. I smiled at both of them and nodded.

"Can I ask why're you here?" I was full of questions.

"We just wanted to make sure you were okay." This time Thalia replied. I smiled a little wider at their concern and before I could say anything there was a blinding white flash and the young girl appeared from the light. She was smiling a little creepily which made me inwardly shiver.

"Hello boy, just wanted to tell you not to worry about that _Gabe_ and to tell you your mother is in a better place." She greeted me.

"Oh, okay thank you. Just to let you know, my name is not boy, it's Percy Jackson." I gave her a half smile and searched around for a shirt because I kind of felt awkward with all these _girls_ in here and me without a shirt. I couldn't find one but once the man noticed what I was looking for, snapped his fingers and a shirt appeared on my body.

"Thank you sir." I said to the man. He gave me a sheepish smile.

"Oh please, don't call me that, just call me Apollo" He gave me another small smile before digging into a small black bag next to him.

The girl walked over and asked something that completely shocked me.

"Bo-Percy, do you know anything about Greek mythology?"

"Some, my mom used to always tell me stories about it as my bedtime stories" I smiled at the memory.

"Okay well this make shock you, but all those stories are most likely very true. She made have said something wrong."

I was very shocked and I just nodded leaving my thoughts to wonder about all the stories my mom used to always tell me.

"Okay enough of that, what did you do to Smelly Gabe?" I asked.

"Oh lets just say, hes hanging around." She smirked and I scooted away.

"I never liked him, my mom said she um married him to protect me, whatever that means. I guess it was more pain than she realized." I shed a few tears and looked away.

She nodded and opened her mouth to speak but closed it. She opened it again and spoke. "My name is Artemis if you were wondering." I nodded and looked away. "If you'll excuse all of us we would like to talk privately" I nodded again and all 4 of them walked out of the tent.

**Artemis POV:**

As we walked away I put a charm to make sure he wouldn't hear us.

"Okay what do you guys plan to do with him?" My brother asked.

"I'm not sure. He has no where to go and Camp half-blood isn't the best place around this time of year." He nodded and I looked at my fellow hunters for their input.

"I'm not sure but I feel like we could train the boy to be the only respectful boy on Earth." I nodded as Zoe told me her thoughts.

"I agree, plus it could be fun." Thalia smiled up at me. I thought it over and realized the pros outweighed the cons in this one and Percy could grow up to be great.

It took a bit to register but Apollo yelled "Hey!" I smacked him upside the head and walked towards the tent. So it was decided.

Percy Jackson would join the hunt, for maidens only. Until now that is.

**I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH! THANK YOU ALL FOR ALL THE AWESOME REVIEWS AND IM SORRY I DONT UPDATE ALL THAT OFTEN BUT I TRY. ANYWAYS THANKS AND UNTIL TIME. TATA!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Okay this was an EXTREMELY close poll. But there can only be one winner which would be... Drumroll please! Buduhduhduhduhduh...**

**PERLIA!**

**The final results where **

**Perlia: 25**

**Pertemis:23**

**Perzoe: 6**

**I am truly sorry for all you Perzoe and Pertemis lovers, but the I plan on making another fanfiction and maybe 2, one with each of the 2 losing pairings. PLEASE pm me on story plots/ideas for the stories and I'll try to write them. Okay since Perlia won and I feel bad I will add some fluff to this chapter for the pairings. ANYWAYS.. ONTO THE STORY!**

**Time skip, 5 Years. (So he's 12 now)**

**Percy POV:**

It's been 5 years since I joined the hunt and I've managed to become the little brother of all my fellow hunters. Artemis has been like a mother too me and sometimes I feel something different than motherly love but I just chose to ignore it.

Right now I'm at archery practice with Zoe being my teacher and me failing. Epicly of course, I mean hello, It's me, Percy Jackson we're talking about. Okay I'm just kidding, I'm actually failing miserably. I've been practice with a bow and arrow for 5 years, I'm able to hit the target now but I've yet to get a bulls-eye.

"Percy, spread your feet shoulder width, and loosen up. You're stiff as a rock." Zoe said examining my stance. I did what she was told and aimed once more. I heard her sigh and come walk by me. She stood behind me and put her hands on mine and moved my fingers to different places on the bow than what I had. She stayed for a few seconds longer than necessary but I decided not to question.

"Okay much better, now aim and just let go." I did.

The next second I was jumping the air and crashed into Zoe with a hug. I got my first bulls-eye!

"Yes! Yes! Yes! Zoe look! I got it!" I screamed looking at her. We were on the ground with her on top of me and she was blushing like mad but I was too happy to really do much. She smiled and pulled herself up. She gave me a proper hug and told me to do it again.

"Okay Percy that was really good, now do it 2 more times in a row and if you get them I'll go get Artemis just for her to see." She offered. Now I was determined. I really wanted my mom to come and see me doing well. She usually just laughed at my failed attempts and walks off with an encouraging hug.

So I did do it two more times and I did get them both. Not as close to the center of the bulls-eye but towards the outside of the circle. A few seconds someone flashed in, took one look at the target, then at me and walked forward grabbing me in a hug.

"Percy! You did it! Okay, okay, now do it again. I want proof." She said looking down at me. She's in her 12 year old form and I'm still quite a bit shorter than her. I nodded and walked over to my place where I last stood.

I placed my feet shoulder width, used my index and middle finger to hold the string and my left hand to aim. I pulled the string back to my eye.

One deep breath.

Two deep breaths.

Release.

The arrow flew and in fact split my first arrow into two. I dropped the bow and stared at the target with wide eyes and an open mouth. I could tell Zoe and Artemis where too. Zoe was the first to snap out of it and wrapped me in a very tight embrace. Artemis was next and it was a group hug, I didn't hesitate to return it.

A few seconds later I heard some excited murmurs and all of the hunters came out from behind the trees walking forward. Thalia was first and came and gave me a bone crushing hug, I was happy to oblige. We stayed like that for a few seconds before the rest of the hunters joined in clapping me on my back and congratulating me on the bulls-eye. I smiled and said thanks to everyone.

Today was going perfect.

It continued that way till dinner too. We had a large feast of goose, salads, and several other kinds of meat and herbs.

After dinner we had a campfire. I was sitting next to Thalia on a small log, making us sit closer together.

We were all dressed in our silver outfits, me, a silver camo shirt with black pants. We were all telling stories from our pasts and I visibly shivered at even the smallest thought of my old one. Thalia must have seen because she gave me a small side hug, she then grabbed my hand in a friendly way giving me an encouraging smile.

"Uh hem" I cleared my throat. All attention was on me. "I-I want to share about my past."

Zoe and Artemis both gave me worrying glances because them two and Thalia were the only ones that knew. I stood up and walked in front of everyone.

"Okay so you all know I joined the hunt when I was 7. I ended up here with cuts and welts covering my body as most of you saw. I'm just going to say that not all monsters are mythical. I learned that the hard way." I glanced around to see everyone's reactions so far. Many had worried faces with confusion etched in their eyes. I continued.

"When I was 4 my mom married a man who's name was Gabe, I called him Smelly Gab because he honestly wreaked." That got a few laughs and lightened the mood a tiny bit. "Well, he was great for about, say 5 minutes. He showed his true color the next day. Shoving me into a wall constantly punching and kicking at me. He said that if I took the hits my mom wouldn't be touched." A few tears fell from my eyes and I slurred the last few words. I heard some gasps and several hands flew to their respective mouths.

"This continued for 3 years, I took the beating to protect my mom. He wasn't all that truthful, I did see my mom with bruises every once in a while. She was way too kind to be hated. He took it too far and decided t-to k-kill my m-mom." Tears where falling freely now. "Before I ran away he gave me one last beating." I pulled off my shirt and turned around. On my back was my labels. _Gabe, Worthless_. When I turned back around some of the hunters were balling or crying. The worst was definitely my 2 best friends and my new mom.

I walked over and gave each of the hunters a hug, with a weak smile telling them I'm okay and it was all worth it to meet each and everyone of them. I still wish I had my mom back though.

-o-

I said goodnight to everyone and walked with Thalia to the beach near-by. We were just talking and comparing fighting stories. Thalia was really good with a spear while I preferred a sword.

We sat by the water, it always calmed me and allowed me to clear my thoughts.

"Percy" She knocked me out of my thoughts and stared at me with worry. "Are you okay?" She asked.

"Yeah I'm fine, just thinking." It didn't really seem to convince her but she ignored it. She grabbed for my hand and I gave hers a squeeze. I didn't really mind before but now I actually liked us holding hands.

"Percy can I ask you something?"

"Sure, anything." I responded.

"What was your real mom like?"

I thought for a while. Trying to get all the best qualities and all the best memories of her.

"Well, she was a shorter woman. The nicest person ever. She used to work at candy stores and bring home only blue candy because Gabe said that it was impossible to have blue food so my mom kind of rebelled. I had blue food from there on out. She also would always help me with homework I had no idea how to do. She was the best person I could ever ask for." I was crying by the end of it. Thalia scooted closer and closed me in an embrace.

"It's okay Percy, you have us now. I'm sorry I asked. Just know we all love you." She gave me a small smile and pulled me up off the ground.

We walked back to the tents hand in hand. I walked her to hers and she gave me a kiss on the cheek before sprinting inside her tent.

I stayed there for a while dazed before I placed my hand over my cheek and walked back with a smile on my face.

Thalia POV:

I can't believe I just did that. Wait no, yes I can. I smiled to myself and pulled the sheets over my body and fell into a deep sleep with a tingle on my lips.


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: Okay I can not thank you all enough for the amazing reviews you guys have left and because of that I'm going to try and make this chapter around 2,000 words.**

**I am also very sorry for not updating I just have not been inspired lately but now that summer has come along I'm think about updating twice a week if I can get to it, so enough with my blabber mouth, here is chapter 5!**

**Chapter 5**

**Percy's POV: 1 month later**

I heard a cry as I pierced the side of a deer with one of my arrows, I have been getting pretty good at the bow and arrow. Zoe and the rest of the hunter have been teaching me as we traveled around the country.

Right now we're currently stationed Minneapolis, Minnesota. We've been hunting a large flock of monsters around the area and it's around dinner time right now, as I was so graciously given the job of hunting for the food. You know, like meat, fruit, greens, things like that. So far I have 2 pouches full of berries I've found, no they're not poisonous, I can tell the difference.

I walked up to the now dead deer, the thing is I hate hunting deer because they're extremely heavy but living with hunters you get stronger, faster, and smarter.

I'm just going to skip all the skinning of the deer for you. You're welcome.

-o-

I got back to the camp a few minutes later carrying a deer over my shoulder, I'm just glad I'm not on cooking duty today. That would be terrible as I just hunted all of this.

I dumped the 2 bags of berries and another one of greens, I then placed the deer in a nearby bucket of ice I created. Yes I know that I'm a Son of Poseidon, I was told when I turned 12 a couple months ago, I've been practicing with my water powers ever since, I just hope I never meet Poseidon. He could've help me, my mom, she may have not been dead right now if he would've done something. Anything.

I walked over to the lake near-by and jumped in cleaning the gunk and blood off of my body. I liked the water powers though, it's pretty cool. I started to pull water out of the lake with a few flicks of my wrist, I started to move my hands in circle making the water turn into various shapes, right now I made an opened rose and I froze it in a way that it won't melt.

Why did I make a rose you ask? I've been having feelings for Thalia lately and I decided to give this to her. After a few more minutes I made a small bow with an arrow notched in it to give to Zoe for being my bestfriend and a moon the size of baseball but it's a crescent moon with the bottom flat so she can place it down. I did that with all of them so they can set them down without them falling over.

After washing up I dried off my body and clothes, put them back on and walked back over to the hunt. By the time I got there everyone was sitting around the dinner table with food in front of them, I must have been under water when the Artemis called us for dinner. I sat between Phoebe and Thalia as Zoe was sitting to Artemis as her right hand man, or woman and she was the Lieutenant of Artemis.

Artemis and her were like sister and bestfriends neither could live without, kind of like me and Thalia.

I grabbed a few pieces of meat and some of the greens, enough to make salad. I started to dig in as everyone else was almost done with the food, Thalia looked at me and I could see in her eyes that she was silently asking where I was.

I gave her back a look saying that we'll talk later.

-o-

After I finished eating everyone started to clean up as we work together to clean after every meal. I started to wash my plate and cup that I filled with water.

After we finished cleaning everything up Artemis called us to the campfire, we have one every night and tell stories about anything though sometimes a campfire night has a theme of stories, tonight was spooky stories and I was ready to be scared. My family definitely knew how to tell creepy stories. Enough to make you pee your pants.

I walked over to the campfire plopping myself between my two bestfriends and waited for the stories to begin, when I was younger I used to be deathly afraid of these stories and sometimes I would cry myself to sleep but now that I'm 12 I'm usually able to handle them.

Phoebe started like she usually does, this time it was about a young hero named Mitch, apparently he used to be like a blood-thirsty guy and would torture monsters, demigods,and mortals. Yep, mortals. She told us what he did to each of them is extreme detail, which was definitely not needed.

Once she finished I was shivering of fear, Phoebe was our best story teller here. Of course, everyone went in order like we always do. Since I'm the newest recruit and a boy, I go last.

Mine wasn't scary, I wasn't really in the mood to try and come up with a creepy story for everyone.

Once I finished everyone pretty much just stared at me.

"What?" I asked.

"Seriously? That was your story? Terrible. I'm ashamed Percy." Phoebe said in a somewhat mocking tone. Everyone around agreed with her and I just gave them my best shrug saying, "what do you want me too do?"

"So, Perseus." I heard my name. I looked up to see Artemis trying to talk to me, of course I knew it was her, she was the only one to call me by my full name.

"Wha?"

"How're you?"

"Good, I guess."

"You know what I mean, Perseus." She looked at me, I did know what she meant. After I ran away I always used to get nightmares and flashbacks that no one could calm me down from. But, they've all been helping me and I rarely get them anymore.

"Good, great actually. I don't get them much, barely at all if anything." I said with a smile at her. She smiled back and continued to chat with Zoe next to her.

Later on we decided to tell funny stories to kind-of get our mind off the creepy one just told moments before.

"Yeah, I was just like dying of laughter right there. She had sticks and mud covering her with some claw marks on her skin. I just couldn't stop laughing, she glared at me for a bit but then she started laughing too. But then, she- fell" MaryAna was having trouble talking through her continuous laughter. "She-she -fell BACK into- the same- mud" She just went silent and we all looked at her to see her clapping with tears rolling down her face. You know you've laugh too hard when you become a clapping seal.

The night continued, but I still had my presents to give to the people now most important in my life.

After the campfire I pulled Thalia to the side.

"Percy, wait, what are you doing?"

"Um, you're one of my bestfriends and because of that I wanted to give you something you might like to thank you for helping me and yeah you know, everything." I pulled out the rose and held it out to her. She took it from my hands and stared at it for a little bit inspecting it.

She then launched herself at me wrapping me in a _very_ tight hug that I didn't hesitate to return.

"Thank you so much Percy. This, this is unbelievable." She said.

"Well, I guess you have to believe it because it's right in front of you." I replied, gosh sometimes I'm just to corny for my own good.

She laughed and we continued on to talk for the rest of the night till I walked her back to her tent and I went straight for mine.

I fell asleep with a dream haunting me.

**Dream:**

**I watched myself being chased, but the thing was, it wasn't me. Well not how I look now anyways. I was younger, maybe around 4 or 5. I was running from something I couldn't quite see yet.**

**I ran for my old bedroom, it was small, the size of half bathroom, only large enough to fit a bed and a dresser. The room barely had no light to it and it only added to the eerie feeling I was getting.**

**I was whimpering, shivering, and completely covered in blood. I knew exactly what was happening now. I was reliving a nightmare from my late step-father. **

**Just then the devil himself walked in, carrying an empty bottle of beer that was no doubtfully drunk by him. He slowly walked over to me, with an evil smile on his face, you know like the ones movie villains get when they kill someone they don't like. Yeah THAT kind of smile. **

**Even in my dream I could smell his rotten stench of stale beer and a porta-potty after a rock concert. Disgusting.**

**He crept closer to me, I was now completely curled up in ball, on top of my bed in the corner, cowering in fear of this man.**

**"Please, please no. I beg of you" My cries were barely a whisper as I pleaded the man not to hurt me. Of course I knew how this was going to end, and it was definitely not with me coming out unscathed.**

**"Oh look at that, the big boy crying for his mommy, is that it? You want mommy? Well what if I told you she won't speaking to anyone for a while?" I knew what that meant. He either knocked her unconscious or he killed her. I was hoping it wasn't the latter. **

**He was now in front of the bed and broke the beer bottle he was carrying straight over my head. It shattered, the glass showering over my exposed skin, the bottle was broken in half with many sharp and rugged edges.**

**He gave me one more sarcastic pout before he drove the bottle into my hip.**

**"AHHHH!" The little me screamed in pain, I knew this was going to add to the beating.**

**He twisted the bottle to the right and I tried to keep the cries in but some of them were let out. He pulled the bottle free from my body, it was now covered in blood. I whimpered and looked away from the man. **

**He smiled again, the creepy, evil smile that only came from people of hell. And he was certainly the devil himself.**

The dream faded away and I awoke gasping in my room.

I heard someone running outside of my tent and I let them barge in as I was still having trouble breathing and calming myself down from the dream.

Artemis came in with a look of fear and concern etched on her face. She quickly sat herself on my bed as I tried to sit up more to give her room.

"Perseus what happened, are you okay?" She asked concerned.

I just shook my head and started to cry, to be honest, I rarely cry in front of people and I haven't cried in a couple of years. None of dreams were this bad.

She pulled me into a hug against her chest and I silently cried onto her shirt soaking it with salty tears, I knew from long ago she could care less about her clothes if one of her hunters were needing her. She patted my back whispering soothing words into my ear as I heard people walking towards the tent with a shuffle of their feet.

She let go a minute later and I was recovering.

"Do you want to talk about it?" She asked.

I hesitated before deciding to answer. "It was another dream, I was being chased by _him_. He had me cornered for gods sake. He-he used a beer bottle. Broken too. Blood. There was so much blood. He said my mom wasn't going to be seeing daylight for a while. I just knew, he knocked her out, he usually does when he hurts us." I finished, sniffling a bit.

She looked at me with tears starting to form in her eyes. This time I was the one to pull her into a hug telling her I was okay now. She nodded against my shoulder, said a quick goodbye and left me to get changed and cleaned up.

I could hear her talking to her hunters about what happened. They know about my dreams, I was okay with it. They could help me and the gods know I welcome help with open arms.

_Him. _He kept clouding my mind as I tried to push it as far back as I could into my mind.

I walked out of my tent with a small, yet fake smile on my face as I silently trekked over to the lake where I laid in the water, peace was welcoming as I laid there quietly. Listening to everything around me.

The water helped physical wounds, but it can't cure my emotional ones.

No matter how much I wished it could.

**2174 words! Yes! Longest chapter yet, hopefully they will stay this long. I am truly sorry for the sucky spelling, plot, characters and such as it is midnight right now and I decided to write the chapter. **

**Please review, flames accepted for I need extra help when writing. But thank you all so much for reading and stay tuned for more frequent chapter updates! Love you all and till next time. TATA!**


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